


To Unify and Protect

by Snow_Leopard_777



Category: DCU, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Arranged Marriage, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:28:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23413813
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snow_Leopard_777/pseuds/Snow_Leopard_777
Summary: When the League of Assassins is ready to dispose of Talia's son due to his refusal to kill, she must find a different way to keep him at the top. She knew the Guardian from her own time with Trixx, and so she went in search of him. She'd heard some interesting stories from Paris, and it was only logical that he had chosen his successor. The safety of his protège in exchange for her son's life... Now if only she had known the Guardian hadn't told the girl's parents of her sudden betrothal.
Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 22
Kudos: 233





	To Unify and Protect

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [To marry an Assassin](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22807753) by [PL_Panda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PL_Panda/pseuds/PL_Panda). 



> Notes: Miracle Queen does not happen. Lila is a liar but has morals. The class (excluding a select few) is still against Marinette though. Adrien SALT! Alya Sugar. I know nothing about DC except for the new Wonder Woman movie and what I have learned of Batman/Justice league from fandom so… Talia is trying to be a good mom who loves her son. Inspired by To Marry An Assassin by PL_Panda. You should check it out, it's great. A pretty good bit different from mine, though. #WeStanLilaRP Nevermind, no salt, sugar fic. Everyone is redeemed.

Talia Al Ghul patiently waited outside a bakery, giving the teenage girl there plenty of time to leave for school before she had a much needed conversation with her parents. As soon as the bluenette ran around the corner, chanting the word late, Talia walked into the bakery, intent on speaking with the girl's parents before she told the children. Damian still had a week before arriving in Paris for the exchange student program, after all. 

Talia walked up to the front counter, an Asian woman leaving the kitchen soon after. The woman smiled at her. "Good morning. How can we help you?"

Talia smiled at the woman. "I need to speak with Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain about their daughter."

The woman's eyes widened. "Oh! Come on back, we're still setting up for the day." Talia followed close behind her, shaking her head at her naïveté. "Darling, we have a guest that wants to talk to us about Marinette."

Talia watched a the huge man turned around, dusting flour off his hands. Sabine grabbed a broom and quickly swept it up, keeping the broom in hand afterwards. Talia had the sudden feeling that, despite there being no records of Sabine Cheng enrolling in some kind of fighting course, she could kill a man with it. Perhaps the woman wasn't as naïve as she had first thought. "What's wrong with Marinette?" The man questioned, his eyes full of worry. 

Talia shook her head. "Nothing's wrong with her. As you know, she is the hero Ladybug and training to be a Guardian of the Miracle Box-" 

"WHAT!?!?" The married couple screeched in unison. Talia looked back and forth between them, confused.

_ Boys are handsome and strong, but always the first to tell me I'm wrong. Boys try to tame me, I know, they tell me I'm weird and won't let it go. _

_ ❤One Week Later _ 💚

Marinette faught back when the hands grabbed her and threw her in the back of a van. She had just wanted to grab fabric for her newest project, not be kidnapped by anyone. It didn't take long for her world to go dark as the rag was pressed over her mouth and nose.

When she woke, her hands were tied behind her back and she was leaned against a boy who looked about her age- who was also tied up. "Je suis désolé." Marinette groggily murmured, attempting to sit up. She looked around their surroundings, finding that they were still in the van.

"Umph hm hump ump." Marinette took notice of the boy's gag, and the obvious outline of a pocket knife in his front pocket. She glanced around the van, playing up her fear.

"Oh, Ladybug's awake! How ya feelin' kid?"

Marinette suddenly no longer needed to act very  _ very _ afraid. "M-m-me? L-ladybug? Y-you must b-be m-m-mis-st-t-take-en. I-i-i co-could never be L-ladybug!"

"Don't even try it, kid. We've been watching you for months now. No one can evade detection for forever. Luck runs out. You know how it is."

Marinette stared at the woman, allowing the tears to build up in her eyes and bubble over, curling into the side of the boy as though seeking comfort. Her body shook, disguising her moving her hands to grab his knife and cut through the ropes binding her. She shrunk back the more the woman stared at her, the knife pressing back into the boy's hands. "H-h-h-how how did-"

"With enough manpower and dedication, it is quite easy to uncover the identity of a teenage hero. They have to go to school somewhere, right? So it's just a matter of tracking down and following students that struggle to get to school on time, stay at school, or even struggle with their grades. You were harder to figure out than some, but le Papillion doesn't really take your school schedule into account, does he?" 

Marinette stared at the woman, too shocked to move. The boy pressed his fingers against her arm, bringing her back into focus. The woman, or perhaps even the man behind her, hadn't tied her feet together, and it didn't take but a second for the boy to slice his knife through his own leg restraints. The boy shot forward, challenging the kidnappers while Marinette darted for the doors. She inspected the locking mechanisms, finally pulling her little multi-tool out of a hidden pocket in her blazer, breaking the springs and pulling out the iron bars. She glanced back at the boy, jerking her head towards the doors. He landed a final hit on the man, fully taking him down, before lunging for her, grabbing her arm and rolling through the doors.

They hit the street hard, rolling together. Marinette's Ladybug luck had apparently been in play, sending the pair over the curb before they got ran over. The boy was the first to recover, pulling her up and yanking down the gag. "Do you have a safe location?" He demanded, yanking on her arm.

Marinette quickly reversed his grip, hauling him by his arm through the back alleys of Paris, sprinting towards her parents' bakery. She missed the startled expression on her papa's face as she sped through the bakery, her maman stopping them in the kitchen.

"Mu zhí? What's wrong?"

"Not now, Maman, we're being followed!"

"Well, we have a visitor coming by shortly. Your father and I are about to close the bakery so we can all talk to her. Do you want to stay down here for a minute and see if they saw you come here?"

Marinette slowly nodded. It would definitely be easier to escape from the bottom floor than the top without her parents becoming suspicious of her being Ladybug. Her parents could possibly even help delay them. She stiffened when her mother came back to the kitchen after helping her father shut down the bakery- with the dark-haired female kidnapper in tow.

"Marinette, this is Talia. We need to have a discussion about some things, especially your Mandarin teacher." Marinette lost all color, and the boy wondered if he would have to carry her.

_ No I'm fine, I'm lying on the floor again. Cracked door, you're always gonna let them in. Even after all the shit I'm resilient. Cause a princess doesn't cry. No-o. _

Marinette didn't fully come back to herself until she was seated on the couch with a kwami tapping her cheek. "Oh, Mari." Tikki's voice was depressed. "I'm so sorry. I never expected this of Fu, especially since he said he was leaving the old ways of the Miraculous behind."

Marinette blinked at her Kwami. "What? What do you mean?"

"Marinette, have you ever heard of the League of Assassins?" The woman, Talia, asked.

"Ah, no? Should I have?"

"Centuries ago, the League of Assassins and the Order of the Guardians were constantly locked in combat. The league wanted the power of the Miraculous, and the order was determined to keep them. The Miracle Box of Balance has always been passed on to the next Grand Guardian for protection, as it is the most powerful box. Then the order vanished one night. The league wants to kill you to get the Miracle Box once you become Guardian. They want to kill my son because he is my father's heir, but has lived with his father for the past few years. They claim he is going soft since he isn't killing and has nothing else to offer them. I spoke with Wang Fu, searching for a solution. I myself was a weilder of a Miraculous once, long ago. He was the one that suggested arranging a marriage between the two of you. I told him that I would let the two of you know once my son arrived in Paris."

Marinette found it hard to breathe. "W-w-w-what?" Marinette struggled for breath. "A-arranged m-m-mar-riage?"

"Breathe. You'll be okay, my son knows how to behave himself. And if he has forgotten, I will personally take care of it. But you passing out won't help anything." The woman's voice was soft as she coaxed the girl out of her anxiety. 

"Thanks, Mother." Her son's voice was sarcastic, but she ignored him in favor of the panicking girl.

"You're both good kids; you can make this work. You've already passed the first test; the two of you worked excellently together in the van."

"Maman. Papa." Her voice was choked, "I didn't want to lie, I swear…"

"Mari, we understand. It came as a shock to is, obviously, but we know why you kept it a secret. If Papillon found out… Oh sweetheart, we're so sorry this happened to you." Sabine wrapped her arms around her daughter. "Tom, keep a lookout. We don't need her akumatized or amoktized."

"Of course, dear!" Tom let his eyes roam, watching out all the windows. "Just remember, we don't blame you." Tom smiled brightly at his daughter.

"No, if anyone, we blame your Master Fu. Master of luck my-"

"Sabine, darling, we have guests!" Tom squeaked, cutting his wife off before she started cussing in front of his future son-in-law. He swapped his attention to the boy in question. "Talia told us that your name is Damian. How do you feel about all this?" Tom asked, worried about the boy's silence.

Damian tried his best not to glare. This man would one day be family. And the girl was… acceptable. "I came to Paris to learn and possibly find out information on these akuma things for my father. I did not anticipate becoming betrothed to anyone, much less one of the heroes."

"Look at it this way," Talia suggested. "You could have been paired with Chat Noir."

_ A princess doesn't cry. No-o-o. Over monsters in the night, don't waste our precious time on boys with pretty eyes. Cause princesses don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. Oh. Don't cry. Cause princesses don't cry. _

Marinette cuddled with Tikki, refusing to cry. "This is Tikki. She's my Kwami, the goddess of luck and creation." She locked eyes with the boy, "my name is Marinette. These are my parents, Tom Dupain and Sabine Cheng."

The boy offered a curt nod. "Damian. As much as I currently loathe to admit it, Talia is my mother. My father's name is Bruce. He is who I have lived with for the past six years, as well as my five siblings."

Marinette gaped at him. " _ Five siblings? _ "

Damian shrugged. "Four officially adopted siblings. There are a few that aren't adopted, but might as well be."

"I don't really have any siblings, just classmates with them. My best friend has three, an older sister and twin younger sisters." She offered up. "I've always wanted one of my own, though."

"Do you want one of mine? I wish to keep Cain, she is tolerable, as is Grayson. You can have both, Drake and Todd. Then we can be even."

Marinette giggled, and Damian resisted a smile at the sound. He'd started to worry that she lived her life in a constant state of despair. Not that he'd admit it to anyone. 

"It's nice to meet you all!" Tikki squealed. "Marinette, now you have people that can cover for you! Talia is one of Trixx's kits, so she can help with her! Especially since you struggle reigning in her and her new holder when they're together!"

_ Girls are pretty and poised and soft to the touch but God made me rough. Girls, so heavy the crown, they carry it tall but it's weighing me down.  _

When school rolled back around the next day, Marinette walked into the class, head held high, Damian by her side. Chloè was the first to pounce. "DC! Another one!? School is not the place for your strays, we've talked about this!"

The couple blinked at the blonde, before a blush bloomed brightly across Marinette's face. "He's not a stray, Chloè! Humans aren't strays!"

Damian considered her statement. "Actually-"

Marinette bumped her shoulder against his. "Hush! Jason is not a stray! Neither are Tim and Dick!"

Chloè looked between the two, her voice quickly going flat, "What's going on?"

Marinette's blush deepened. "Chloè, I would like you to meet my boyfriend, Damian. He's just transferred to our school."

Chloè glared at the boy. "And how did you two meet?"

"My mother kidnapped us to test our compatibility in escaping her clutches. Once reaching safety, she informed us of our betrothal."

Chloè gaped at the pair. "Nope." She finally said, waving her arms in a very  _ Marinette _ fashion. "The Marinette Dupain-Cheng Protection Squad has officially been activated, and all the Adrienette shippers informed this. We will fight this and beat the system."

"Chloè, you do realize that I got over my crush on him, right? And that he doesn't like me that way?"

Chloè smirked at Marinette. "It doesn't matter. They won't force you to get with Adrien, but they won't let this happen either. Besides, Felix is supposed to be moving here."

Marinette glared at Chloè. "Don't you dare bring that gremlin around me. I'll punt him to Jupiter if you do."

Chloè rolled her eyes. "He's not that bad when he doesn't have a hidden agenda. Actually, I'm not bringing him near you. Paris would self destruct from the chaotic neutral that would emit from you two combining forces."

Damian frowned. "Chaotic neutral?"

Chloè smirked. "If DC is chaotic good, and Felix is chaotic evil…"

Damian nodded understandably. "Then combining them would neutralize their respective affiliation."

_ No, I'm fine, I'm lying on the floor again. Cracked door, your only gonna let them in… once. And you won't come undone. Cause a princess doesn't cry. _

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
